Eye of the Storm
by soraxtsuna123
Summary: When Ponyboy was a baby, he was taken away and adopted by another family. Years later, he meets his brothers again. One-Shot. Ponyboy is aged down at the beginning. Request by white collar black wolf.


**Request by white collar black wolf.**

**So, in this one-shot, Darry and Soda are both adults in the beginning, while Ponyboy is a baby. Just to warn you, if you are confused about it.**

**o-o-o**

"Your parents have perished in an auto wreck."

When Darry and Soda heard those words, their world came halting to a stop.

Their faces were dark from the night sky, only parts were lit up by the flickering streetlight. It was clear and beautiful that day. There wasn't a cloud in the sky. It seemed impossible for anything bad to happen with how perfect it was. Even the night was perfect. There was a cool breeze brushing through the leaves and the air smelt fresh for once with how much smog there was in the city. Nothing could have prepared them for this storm. It was a silent storm, one that seemingly came out of nowhere. They weren't prepared for the lightning strike that would blow everything apart.

Soda remembered looking at Darry that night through his tear-filled vision. He could barely see his brother's face with the little lighting and the blurriness caused by his tears. But he saw the deep frown that formed on his face, wrinkles making him a lot older than he was. He saw Darry's trembling hands that were curled into fists. However, he didn't see any tears. Even though his eyes looked haunted and distraught like he was about to crash at any moment, he shed nothing. If Soda didn't know him better, he would have passed it off as emotionally strong or even stoic. But Soda _did_ know him, and he knew that Darry was sobbing on the inside. He knew that Darry was only appearing tough for Soda's own sanity.

Slowly, Darry closed the door, hoping that there would more shelter from the storm. Little did they know; the storm already entered the run-down home.

They stood there in silence, letting everything sink in. There was no way that their parents were dead. No way. They were fine hours ago with huge smiles on their faces. They couldn't go from that to dead in such a short time. But they knew that their parents weren't invincible. They knew that death happens randomly, choosing victims like picking cards out of a hat.

The crying of a toddler jolted them from their state of shock. With a sigh, Darry said, "I'll take care of it."

He walked away and Soda instantly collapsed onto the couch, knees too weak to hold himself up anymore. Soon enough, Darry returned, carrying their little brother, Ponyboy, in his hands. He bounced the toddler in his arms, gently patting his back. The crying turned to giggling soon after, which was refreshing to hear for the two older bothers. But they still couldn't bring themselves to be happy.

"I can't believe that they're gone. It's not fair… why them? Why do they have to go? They weren't supposed to leave us!" Soda sobbed. Snot was drooping from his nose, mixing with his salty tears. He ferociously whipped it away with his arm.

"Nobody's invincible."

Soda spun around and glared at Darry, his red eyes were vibrant even in the dim lighting. "Why are you acting like this is normal?! Our parents are dead! They're gone! I never got to say goodbye to them or tell them that I loved them! I'm never going to see them again! Ponyboy is never going to be able to see what his parents look like besides in photos. They're—" Soda instantly stopped when he saw a lone tear fall from Darry's eyes. Darry never cried, but he was now.

A small whimper came out of Ponyboy and Soda snapped his attention to the toddler who was staring at him with watery eyes. All of the emotions washed out of him, leaving him exhausted. "Sorry…" he whispered. Soda reached over and combed through Ponyboy's hair. He took a deep, shuttering breath. "Darry, what's going to happen now?" Soda asked, voice unstable and shaky.

"I don't know…" was all he could answer. "But we'll get through this. Nothing's going to happen to us."

But the storm did more than strike people down. At that moment, the wind was soft and gentle, but it was only a warning sign before it became ferocious once again.

**o-o-o**

The day that their parent's recovered bodies were buried, there was a summer rain. The raindrops patted against dark umbrellas, wetting the loose dirt beneath them. Footprints imprinted into the ground as people started to leave the grave to give the brothers space to mourn. Well, almost everyone.

"Excuse me," a woman spoke up suddenly. The brothers turned, not in the mood to talk to anyone. Darry repositioned Ponyboy in his arms, staring curiously at the woman. "I'm sorry for your loss."

"Thank you…" Darry grumbled.

"I need to speak to you about what's going to happen now. I know it's a bad time, but we do need to discuss this." This caught their full attention.

"What's she talking about, Dar?" Soda asked his brother worriedly.

Darry could only shrug. "I'm sorry, but can you please explain what you're talking about?"

"I'm a social worker, and—"

And, just like that, they felt their hearts stop. Cold sweat ran down their spines and their eyes widened. "No," Soda declined, rapidly shaking his head. "No! You're not tearing this family apart! We're sticking together!"

"I'm sorry, but Ponyboy will be taken into the system."

"Why? I'm old enough to take care of him!" Darry brought up, holding Ponyboy closer to him. He subconsciously moved backward away from the woman.

The social worker sadly shook her head. "Your house is inhospitable for a baby to live in. Upon that, you have no experience with taking care of a baby or the resources for that matter. I've already applied to court. From there, it will be decided if Ponyboy should really be removed from your household. I will be sending you a letter of issue soon."

With that, the social worker left, and Darry and Soda just stood there, feeling their world stop once again. There was no way this was happening to them. First their parents and now Ponyboy.

"It's not fair…" Soda whimpered after a long silence. His eyes were red and puffy, no longer able to produce any more tears. His umbrella dropped to the floor minutes ago, and now he was just soaked to the bone from the rain. "Why is this happening to us? Why us? Why does the world hate us to do this to us?"

Darry pressed Ponyboy even closer to his chest, who only snuggled up closer to the warmth. "There's no way that we will hand him over," he declared. He took a deep, shuttering breath, praying to whoever, if there was someone, was up there for help.

**o-o-o**

Luck wasn't on their side, however. Before they knew it, judgment day came, and it ended up in flames. It was decided by the judge that Ponyboy would be taken out of their custody. They couldn't do anything about it, no matter how much the begged to keep him.

The social worker reached her hands out to take Ponyboy away, but Soda held onto Ponyboy tightly, glaring at her with tear-filled eyes. He snapped his head from side to side, backing away. "No! You're not taking him!" he screamed.

"Please, hand him over," the social worker pleaded.

"No!"

"Soda…" Darry whispered, hands touching his brother's shaking shoulder. "You have to hand him over."

Soda whipped his head to Darry with a look of astonishment blown out in his eyes. "Are you kidding me, right now? Weren't you the one who said that we wouldn't give him over?"

"Soda…"

"No! I'm not giving him over! He's all we have left! I can't lose anybody else! First our parents and now him?"

"He needs to go," the social worker declared, "or I'm going to have to take him by force."

"Don't take him away, please…" Tears were cascading down his face, falling onto Ponyboy's forehead, who was looking up at him with a tilted head.

"I'm sorry, sir, but I have to."

But Soda didn't let go of Ponyboy. He couldn't. He wouldn't allow him to get taken away. He wouldn't be able to take it.

The social worker couldn't take it anymore and snatched Ponyboy out of his arms. Soda cried out in shock, heart stopping. He could feel the adrenaline pump through him, everything starting to go in slow motion. He shot his hands out, grabbing Ponyboy, trying to pull him back. But the social worker held tightly, pulling Pony back towards her in a game of tug-of-war. Instantly, Ponyboy started to cry. His wails made their ears ring, almost like a wake-up call.

"Stop it, you're hurting him!" Soda screamed. "Let go!"

"No, you let go!" the social worker shot back.

"Soda!" Darry interrupted, pulling Soda away from Ponyboy. He struggled against his hold, but Darry held tight. "He has to go. I don't want him to go, but he has to. Struggling will only make this entire situation worse."

The social worker looked at them with sympathy before turning away to walk to her car.

"Wait!" Darry called out before she could make it and the woman froze in her spot, turning back around. "Can we at least say goodbye?"

The social worker nodded, thinly smiling. She handed back the toddler and leaned against her car. Soda immediately put his head on Ponyboy's forehead. "Don't worry, baby, we're going to get you back. We'll come get you. Right, Darry?"

"Right. We just need to prove to the court that we would be good guardians. We'll get you again."

Ponyboy stared at them curiously but looked a bit panicked when he was swiped away by the social worker.

"No!" Soda yelled, trying to grab him back but fell a few inches short.

Ponyboy started to cry again, reaching his small, chubby hands at his brothers. Soda and Darry just stood there, turning their heads away, unable to bring themselves to look at him.

They promised that they would get Ponyboy back, but by the time they got clearance to get Ponyboy back, it was too late. Ponyboy was adopted.

**o-o-o**

"Ponyboy, come on! You're going to be late for school! We made breakfast!"

Ponyboy groaned, digging his head deeper in his pillow. After a long sigh, he looked up, squinting at how bright it was. After disassociating for a few minutes, he pushed himself up and slowly dragged himself out of his room. He descended the stairs like he was a thousand years old, taking one sluggish step at the time, before heading to the kitchen, where the strong scent of food hit him.

"G'morning," he greeted with a yawn. He collapsed in a chair at the table as a plate was placed in front of him.

"Whoa, did someone wake up on the wrong side of the bed?" his father teased. Ponyboy groaned, poking at his eggs with a fork.

"What's with the nice breakfast?" he asked after fully waking up. "Isn't this a bit much? I usually just get a bowl of cereal or fruit."

His mother rolled her eyes with a smile, putting the extra food on the other plates. "I'm not going to let you eat that breakfast on your birthday."

Birthday? He glanced at the calendar, seeing the date circled in marker. Oh, right! He totally forgot. "I'm so old now…"

His dad slapped the back of his head. "If you're old, what does that make me?"

"Ancient."

His father chuckled, although it sounded strained. "You know if it wasn't your birthday…" He trailed off and Ponyboy scrunched up his face all cutely.

"Eat your breakfast, birthday boy, before it gets cold," his mother instructed. "Randy is going to come over and pick you up and take you to school. Your summer classes are almost over, aren't you relieved?"

"It feels like I've been in the class for forever now," Ponyboy grumbled, taking a bite of food. "I still don't see why you made me go."

"I told you, the more classes you take, the more prepared you'll be for college."

She started to check her purse to make sure that everything was inside of it, checking her reflection in a compact mirror. "Now," she continued, "I'm going to pick you up from school later after my shift ends. When we get back home, your father and I have a surprise to give you."

"A surprise?" He looked at his parents with curiosity, who were staring back at him with a nervous expression. It was weird, to say the least, but he didn't think much about it. He scooped the rest of his food in his mouth and quickly ran to his room to get ready for summer school. Shuffling into fresh clothes and brushing his teeth with fervor until it made him look like he had rabies.

A honk of a car notified him that Randy was outside and he scurried downstairs, jumping the last few steps. He swung his backpack over his shoulders. "Bye! I'm going now!" he called out.

"Wait, hold on!" his mother screamed, loping over to him. She hugged him and pecked him on the temple.

Ponyboy, again, scrunched up his nose. "Mom…" he groaned, pushing himself away and wiping the lipstick off of his temple. "I'm not a little kid anymore. You can't keep doing that."

She looked at him sadly. "I know… It's just that…" She paused. "You know what? Nevermind. You need to get going."

"Okay…?" He looked at his mother weirdly again but shook it off.

"Happy birthday!" she called out one last time as he closed the door behind him.

Ponyboy ran over to Randy's car and hopped inside, not bothering to fasten his seatbelt. "Hey, man," he greeted.

"Hey, happy birthday, Pony!" Randy replied, starting up the car again. "What took you so long to get out of the house?"

"Mom was smothering me."

"She always smothers you though."

"Way more this time. It was weird. My parents were looking at me like I was going to die tomorrow."

"That's weird…"

"Right?"

"I bet you're overthinking it. Are they doing anything for your birthday? Me, Bob, and the other guys are planning to head to a party tonight. Wanna come? I heard that it's going to be big."

Ponyboy tilted his head, thinking about it. He wanted to go. It sounded like a lot of fun. He shook his head instead. "Nah, man, can't. My parents said they had something really important for me at the house later."

"Can't you come afterward. It starts late at night."

"We'll see. I'll call you if I'm feeling up to it later, then you can pick me up."

Randy nodded. "I still don't see why you don't have your license yet."

"I failed the test, remember?"

Randy burst out laughing, pulling into the school. "Oh, that's right! You almost hit a biker!"

Ponyboy rolled his eyes, elbowing Randy. "People on motorcycles are assholes. They think they can ride in the middle of the lanes and off the road to pass you. It's illegal to do that, and I get an instant fail for turning right on a red at the same time a biker decided to come out of nowhere and pass me on my right. And then they curse at you when it's their fault they almost got hit!"

"They're testing you, not the biker though. You were supposed to be ready for anything that randomly pops up."

"I'll get it next time…"

**o-o-o**

When Ponyboy returned home, he was instructed to sit at the table again. His father was already there, which was strange because he usually worked until late. He must have been let out early. A folder was lying right in front of him and he gave Pony a small smile when he sat down.

"What's going on? What's the surprise?" Ponyboy asked as his mom sat down too and put his hands into hers.

"Sweetie, we have something really important that we need to tell you. That's the surprise," his mom said.

"What? Are you going to tell me that I'm adopted?" Ponyboy said sarcastically, snorting at his joke, but his smile dropped when he saw the serious faces in his parent's face. Realization hit him like a bulldozer. "Wait? Am I adopted?"

They slowly nodded. His mom squeezed his hand. "You are. I thought it was time to tell you."

Ponyboy didn't know what to think. He just stared at his parents with disbelief, unable to fully process everything. There was no way that he was adopted. They had to be pulling his leg. But, the look they were giving him, told him otherwise. There were so many emotions rushing through him, but there was one that was sticking out like a sore thumb: betrayal. They lied to him. They _always_ lied to him. What else have they lied to him about? His shock quickly morphed into anger in a snap of a finger. "So, I'm not your kid? Why didn't you tell me this earlier? Why did you lie to me all these years? Do you even love me?"

Another squeeze and Ponyboy forcefully pulled his hand away. His mom looked at him with so much hurt in her eyes that it caused him to falter for a moment. "Oh, Sweetie… Of course, we love you. You're our child!"

He shot up, slamming his hands against the table. His parents flinched but did nothing else. He pointed accusingly at the file. "Well, according to that, if it's what I think it is, I'm not."

"But you are! Sweetie, sit down. Please, you know we love you."

"Pony, it doesn't matter if you're not our biological child. You're still ours. Your mother, she ended up being infertile, unable to have kids, so we ended up turning to adoption and—" his father started but was cut off.

"Shut up!" Ponyboy screamed, walked away from the table, but turned around with crossed arms. "Why did you keep this from me?! Why did you think it was okay to just lie to me all of these years?!"

"Because we were scared something like this would happen! We were scared that you would resent us and leave us."

Ponyboy dragged his hands through his hairs, taking a deep breath. He stared at his parent's eyes which were brimmed with tears. His probably looked similar. He knew he had to calm down. He couldn't bear to see his parents looking so pitiful and lost. "What happened to them?"

"They… died in an auto wreck when you were just a baby," his mom answered with a quiet voice.

"So… I will never be able to see my actual parents?"

"No… You had two older brothers though."

That caught Ponyboy's attention. "Two brothers?"

"Yeah. One was named Darrel and the other was named Sodapop, as funny as it was."

Ponyboy could feel himself calm down hearing about that. He found himself smiling a bit. "Sodapop? Is that why I'm named Ponyboy?"

"Yeah. We thought about changing it when you were little, but we decided to keep it. We thought that your biological parents were really proud of that name to call you that. We thought it was only right," his father answered.

"I'm glad you didn't change it…" Ponyboy had a love-hate relationship with his name. He was always teased about it, but it was _his_ name. It was only his, so it was special to him. Hearing that made him love it even more. "What happened to my brothers? Did they get put into a boys' home?"

"No. They were old enough to not be affected. It was only you."

And with those words, Ponyboy felt like the rug was again pulled out from under him. He felt that familiar feeling of betrayal again. "They didn't take me in? Am I really that unwanted for them to hand me away?"

"Oh, no, Sweetie, it wasn't like that! It was because—"

Ponyboy stopped them by raising his hand. "You know what, this is too much for me right now. I'm going to go take a walk to clear my head. I just want to be alone right now to sort everything out."

"Pony—" his father started, but Ponyboy scooped up the files and ran out the door before his parents could stop him. He ignored them calling out to him and just ran until the house was out of sight.

What was his life right now? Some flick? He still couldn't believe that he was adopted. It seemed unreal to think that his parents weren't actually _his_ parents. But, then again, it made so much sense. He didn't look like either one of them. He wondered what his actual parents looked like. Did he look more like his dad or his mom? Did he look like any of his brothers? His brothers that decided to toss him away? Did they accuse him of something? Did they blame him for possibly being the cause of his parent's death? No, he was probably just overthinking everything. He didn't know the entire story after all.

A honk behind him caused him to jump, snapping out of his daze. "Hey, Pony!" he heard Randy call out. The car pulled up beside him. "I thought you had to go home! Why are you…" Randy trailed off, examining Ponyboy's face with squinted eyes. He scooted over to the passenger side and peeked out of the window. "You're crying… What happened?"

Ponyboy clutched his file tighter, rubbing off the tears with his other arm. He sniffled. "Can I… Can I get in?"

Randy nodded, opening the door and sliding back over to the driver's seat. Ponyboy stepped in, closing the door with an unnecessary slam. Randy started up the car again and started to drive. They sat in silence for a long time, sensing that Pony wanted to be mostly left alone. "Do you want to talk about it?" he asked after a while. He glanced at the file. "What's that?"

There was a long pause before Ponyboy answered. "My adoption papers."

Randy almost slammed on the brakes at those words but kept his composure, turning onto a street with less traffic. "You're adopted?"

"Apparently! My parents just told me about it! They lied to me all these years."

"Ponyboy… I know you probably don't want to hear this, but they probably had a really good reason. Most parents don't tell their kid that they're adopted, if they are anyways until they're a lot older. Look, your parents love you, okay? It doesn't matter that you didn't come out of your adoptive mom's womb. It doesn't change anything."

Ponyboy almost snorted at the similarities. "That's what they told me."

"Because it's true. Trust me, you'll always be their kid."

With a sigh, Ponyboy leaned his head back against the seat, looking at his friend with a small pout. "What did I do to deserve you as a friend?"

"Now don't get all soft on me." They continued to drive in silence before Randy spoke again. "So… I take it, you don't want to go to the party?"

Ponyboy shook his head.

"What do you want to do?" Randy asked.

"I…" A pause. Ponyboy liked his chapped lips. "I don't know…"

"Do you want to meet them? Your biological family, I mean?"

Another pause before Ponyboy nodded. He had to meet them. He didn't even know what his brothers looked like. He had to see them, or else he wouldn't know. "I want to. I want to see them right now."

Randy looked over before quickly looking back to the road. "Right now? Seriously?"

"Is that okay?"

He sighed, nodding his head. "Yeah, yeah. We can go. Do you know where they live?"

Ponyboy opened up the file and pointed to an address. "Right here."

**o-o-o**

When Randy's car pulled up in front of the house, he felt like throwing up. He never felt so nervous before. Not even during presentations. He was so nervous that he almost missed Randy muttering something about greasers. His stomach felt like it was filled to the brim with butterflies, his fingers scratching at pants. Ponyboy started to have second thoughts. Maybe this was a bad idea? Would they even want to see them? Were they even still living there? What if they don't remember him? What would he even say to them?

This was a bad idea, Ponyboy concluded. "You know what, let's just go."

"No, you're going in Pony. Don't have cold feet now. I drove all this way for you."

"You drove for like ten minutes."

"Still, you wanted to meet them. Chances are, they aren't there anymore. But we just need to find out."

Ponyboy sighed. Randy was right. "Okay, okay. I'm going." Ponyboy opened the door, stepping out.

"Want me to stay behind?"

"No, it's fine. Just go. Thank you."

"Good luck, Pony."

When Randy's car drove away, Ponyboy knew there was no turning back now. For a long time, he just stared at the rickety house. The house was so different than the one he lives in. He couldn't imagine living in such a small, beat-up house. To think that he would still be living there if he wasn't adopted.

Slowly, he approached the front door, raising his hand up. He took a deep breath and gave a few stern knocks. There was definitely no turning back now.

**o-o-o**

Darry was sitting in the armchair, reading a book. He was let off work early today, so he made sure to spend the rest of the day visiting his brother. He had long since moved out of the house. His brother, Soda, was still living in it, unable to bring himself to sell it. He decided to visit because today was their little brother's birthday. Both of them were sensitive and emotional on that day. It reminded them of their loss of family and their failure to be good brothers.

Soda was off doing something in his room when there was a knock on the door. Darry stared at it with a raised eyebrow. He didn't think Soda was expecting anybody to visit.

He stood up, deciding to see who it was. When he swung open the door, he saw a teenage boy on the other side of the screen. The boy had very light, auburn colored hair and familiar looking green-gray eyes. He felt like he had seen them before, but he couldn't place it. Man, it was going to bother him for the rest of the day. Where had he seen them before?

"Hello?" Darry started.

The boy looked like he was about to throw up, looking at him with so much nervousness that a person a mile away could feel it. "Hi…"

"Can I… help you?"

"Um…" The boy looked panicked all of a sudden. He clutched a file in his hands tighter. "Are you by any chance… Darrel or Sodapop Curtis?"

"I'm Darrel. And you are?"

Again, the boy looked like he was just going to throw up and run away. He opened his mouth before closing it, repeating the process a few times, making him look like a fish. "Um… I really don't know how to go about this… but… my name is Ponyboy and I've been told that you were my brother?"

Darry froze in place, eyes growing wide. He felt his heart beat faster to the point where he thought he was about to have a heart attack. He stared at the boy and the familiarities became crystal clear. He looked a lot like his mom and Soda. He couldn't believe what he just heard, but his eyes weren't lying to him. Right in front of him was his lost brother, Ponyboy. He couldn't believe that he was right in front of him. He never thought he would see him ever again, and, lo and behold, there he was.

"Can I… Can I come in?" Ponyboy asked, shifting his feet uncomfortably, looking hopefully at him. Darry numbly nodded, opening the door wider for him.

"Go ahead and sit down. Do you want anything? A drink or a snack?"

"Do you have Pepsi?"

Darry nodded, heading into the kitchen to fetch him the drink. Ponyboy plopped down on the couch, awkwardly looking around the homey living room.

"Hey, Darr, do you know where I put the…" Another male burst inside the living room, stopping when he saw Ponyboy on the couch. "Oh, hello!"

"Hi," Ponyboy greeted.

Darry exited the kitchen, handing Ponyboy the Pepsi, who took it gratefully. He played with the bottle cap, staring at the newcomer. Man, was he handsome? He had never seen a male so pretty before.

"Soda, this is… this is Ponyboy, our brother."

He saw the small smile drop from Soda's lips as his eyes grew wide. "Ponyboy?"

Oh, Christ, they never actually liked him. He made a mistake coming here. He should just go. But before Ponyboy could do anything, he found himself being crushed into the arms of Sodapop, tears instantly wetting his shoulder. Ponyboy froze, not knowing what to do. He knew that he should hug back because it _was_ his brother, but he was practically a stranger to him. He didn't know this person who was hugging him.

Luckily, Darry came to his rescue after seeing his panic. "Soda, you're scaring him."

Soda gave one more squeeze before he pulled back, eyes filled with tears. "You're him. You're really him. I thought… I thought I would never see you again. Look at you. You grew up so much."

Ponyboy didn't know what else to say. How was he supposed to move on from here? "I just found out about you two and I wanted to meet you."

The two didn't seem to hear him, too wrapped up in staring at him like he was a piece at an exhibit. Ponyboy tapped his fingers on his knees, taking glances at the door. Man, what would he give to be able to just get up and run away? Darry noticed the stares, frowning.

"I'm sorry if this is really awkward for you. We're just really shocked and amazed," he said.

"It's okay…"

"So, we need to catch up quite a bit. How are you doing? Are you doing alright? Is your new family nice?"

"Yeah… They're the best. I'm doing great."

"How are you doing in school?"

"Err… I'm a straight A student and I skipped a grade. I'm also on the track team."

"The track team? So, you're fast."

Ponyboy nodded. "One of the fastest on the team. I have a lot of great friends too."

"It sounds like you've had a great life…"

Ponyboy looked into his brothers' eyes and saw them looking at each other with sadness. "So, it was best for you to be adopted into a new life."

What? Ponyboy stared at them, eyes hardening. He curled his hands into fists. For a moment, he forgot one of the main reasons why he was there. He had to know. "Why was I put up for adoption?"

The question was left unanswered for a long time. Ponyboy knew he pressed the wrong button. "You probably found out already, but our parents passed away."

"Yeah, but you were old enough to take care of me. Why did you give me up?"

"We didn't want to," Soda answered. "Believe me. We fought to keep you. Without our parents and how we were living, they decided that we couldn't raise you, so they took you away. We did everything we could, and, when we finally were able to get you back into our custody, you were already adopted."

So, they actually loved him at one point? That was totally opposite to what he thought. He sighed, chewing at his bottom lip. He was so wrong about everything.

"A part of me is glad that you were adopted. I wished you could have stayed with us but look at you now. You could have never gotten so far in life living here with us. You wouldn't have been as happy," Darry said.

But, Ponyboy knew that he would have been happy, regardless of money problems. As long as he was with them, his family, he would have been happy.

"You know, you look like our mom," Darry continued. He reached over to a picture and handed it to him. It was a family photo with all of them in it, looking as happy as ever. Ponyboy, of course, was still a wrapped-up baby. He found himself, gliding his thumb against the glass. This was his family…

"And, it's your birthday today," Soda brought up. "Happy birthday. It must have been a really tough day for you."

"You have no idea," Ponyboy chuckled. "Everything's a lot to process."

"Do you want cake? We have chocolate cake."

Ponyboy was almost tempted to say yes but he shook his head. "I'm good, thanks. Tell me about your lives instead. I want to know you all better."

The three talked for hours. The daylight soon turned into night. The more Ponyboy stayed there, the more comfortable he became. He started to feel like he was there his entire life like he was actually their brother. He was, but he was still a stranger to the house, no matter what. He didn't belong there anymore, even though the two took him in with glee. He looked out the window. His parents must be worried sick.

Darry looked out the window as well. "Do you want to call your parents and tell them where you are?"

"Can I?"

"Go right ahead."

Ponyboy walked up to the phone, calling his parents who were screaming at him with worry. It took several minutes to calm them down enough to listen to him. He gave them the address of the house he was in and went back to talking to his brothers, telling him about the mischief he's been in.

Half an hour later there was a knock at the door, and before he knew exactly was happening, his parents rushed to him and scooped him up in their arms. "We were worried sick. Don't ever run away again!" his mother scolded.

"I won't," Ponyboy promised, pulling away, he motioned to his brothers. "These are my brothers."

"Darrel and Sodapop," his dad recalled. "It's a pleasure to meet you. Can we speak to Ponyboy alone for a bit?"

Darry nodded and Ponyboy followed his parents out of the house onto the front porch. Something was up. Oh man, he hoped that it wasn't more news. He had enough for today. "What's going on?" Ponyboy asked.

His parents looked at each other sadly. "Your mother and I were talking, and we totally understand if you would want to live with your brothers instead of us. But, no matter what, we will always love you. You're our child, no matter what."

"No," Ponyboy said instantly, already knowing what he wanted long ago. He never wanted to leave his parents, even after learning he was adopted or after meeting his brothers. Even though he was angry at them for keeping everything a secret from him, he still loved them. "I'm not leaving you. I'm not going anywhere… at least until I go to college."

His parents let out a huge sigh of relief, letting out tears again. They hugged him closely and he hugged back, feeling his own tears fall out of his eyes again, soaking into their clothes.

"So, you're not staying?" he heard Darry ask. He looked at the front door to see his brothers looking at him with small smiles.

"No… I'm sorry if you were hoping otherwise… They're my family too and they've stuck with me my entire life, so I'm going to stick with them."

"It's fine. We're just happy to see you and to know that you're alright."

"Can I…" Ponyboy swallowed his saliva that was building up in his mouth. "Can I visit? I don't live that far away, and I just want to catch up all the years we were apart."

Soda stepped up to him, hugging him, Darry following soon after. "You can visit whenever you like," Soda reassured. Ponyboy smiled, and for the first time in his life, he hugged his brothers. No matter what happens, no matter what storm tears them apart, they would always be family. Even though the storm had hit hard, and it took forever to get through it, they finally made it to the eye of the storm. They were together again and safe. They loved each other, and that's all that mattered.

**o-o-o**

**How to request for one-shots:**

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